Running up that hill
Published 1 Jan 2023
Jan 2023
I have set myself what I think will be a lofty (but achievable) target of running 10,000m of elevation gain over the course of 2023.
I have been running inconsistently for around 7 years at this point. I’m not fast and haven’t done more than a half marathon. But I have unexpectedly gravitated towards running up hills, despite many considering this the most miserable form of running. Initially, I remember almost being scared of the idea of running up a big hill, finding normal running uncomfortable enough. But after building up to comfortably running a 5k, my good friend Jon (a very fast lanky boy) tricked me during our lunchtime run by changing our route and taking us over the top of Blackford Hill. It wasn’t as bad as I thought and the deliberate steady pace actually felt pretty good - I got totally europhic when we made it to the top and realised I wasn’t dead.
Since then, I continued to explore that various hills of Edinburgh. As I am living so close to Arthur’s seat it feels only right to try an elevation challenge. I initially set myself the goal of 5k, but I have been talked up to 10k by pals Remi and Alex.
Feb 2023
They were right! I underestimated myself am surprised to have racked up the first 1000m quite quickly.
Sept 2023
True to my running career up to this point, the runs have been somewhat sporadic, but progress has been made. I have found the monthly Strava challenges useful motivaters for keeping me out on the trails. I managed to get 2000m elevation in March although it was definitely a lot more running than I’m used to! It’s now September and despite a reasonable break in July and August I’m still just ahead of schedule - I’m doing my second 2000m Monthly challenge now and hope to beat my initial 10,000m goal by as much as possible.
June 2024
I ran the most consistently in March, during the first 2k monthly challenge, but in September for whatever reason ended up behind on the runs and realised I had to climb 800m in 6 days. Doesn’t sound like a lot to some experienced runners but to my flaky ass it was quite a chunk. Being a masochist, instead of running a small bit every day, I doubled my previous max by climbing 509m. I’d never run more than once up Arthur’s seat but I managed the full thing twice, with an extra run up the crags! And although it was bloody tough, a few days later I topped it up with another 300m and managed to get the challenge done for September. Talk about last minute, but also raised morale quite a bit.
I think at this point I was up to 8k, and had 3 months to do the last 2k. Durin this time the frequency of running definitely dropped, reinforcing my theory that I am driven by deadlines 🥲.
My last run of 2023 was on 29th Nov, and it was poetically the best run of the entire year, going all the way to the top of Ben A’an. I didn’t travel there to do the run, was just happenstance that it was on the doorstep of where I was staying for a few days with my Dad. I hadn’t run for three weeks but one lunchtime I just said fuck it, lets climb that bastard. I didn’t stop, although the route at one point had become a trickly waterfall surrounded by icy rocks and I had to walk. The view was awesome and I was very happy not to have slipped over; a few random people cheered me on, and two smiley old guys told me I was insane. I enjoyed this too.
Afterwards I think my spirit flagged as winter came on, and preparations to emigrate took over, but I’m really proud that I managed to meet the goal so far ahead of schedule. I suppose it would have been rude not to have finished with Ben A’an right?
This challenge taught me a lot about how seting a simple target can motivate me to achieve far more than casually running for fun. I remember pushing myself quite hard towards the end, continuing the theme of going in underconfident but having the faith to just try and aim for something that seems too hard. I’m definitely more confident in what is possible, and I think the challenge this year (already running low of time) is to try running to the top of Grouse Mountain. It’s an 800m climb with no breaks, unlike the previous record of 500m which was gained over 3 ascents giving a little bit of extra recovery time on the descent.
I’m curious to see how I go - I’ve been lifting at the gym and not running at all, which is why a little challenge is probably needed!